Global community puts forests first with milestone decision at UN climate meeting: REDD+ a reality

In a major victory for the world's tropical forests, the more than 1.6 billion people that are dependent on them, and the Earth's fragile climate, global leaders have agreed on a much anticipated package of elements that will unlock finance to reward tropical forest nations for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

Delegates of the UN global climate meeting voted in favour of REDD+ at their November meeting in Warsaw. REDD+ will fight climate change by addressing 20 per cent of global carbon emissions - the total caused by forest loss, and more than that caused by all the cars, trains, planes and ships in the world.

Happy New Year from WWF's global Forest and Climate Programme, and thank you for subscribing to CANOPY. In this issue, we celebrate the news of UNFCCC-COP19 approval of REDD+. We also interview Mubariq Ahmad, a member of the Indonesia Special REDD+ Team. In addition, we bring you the latest REDD+ news, learning tools and information from WWF's global Forest and Climate Programme team.

Confidence intervals. Monte Carlo simulations. Change detection accuracy assessments. These technical terms can make most of our heads spin, but they are standard fare for the curriculum of an academic programme that WWF helped create and sponsor.

First held in San Diego in August 2013 in partnership with the University of California, the four-week high-level course teaches advanced skills in measuring and modelling the amount of carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems. These measurements are needed to calculate the size of results-based payments for countries that conserve and rehabilitate tropical forests under the new Warsaw Framework for REDD+ approved in November at the UN global climate meeting. (For more info on the UN REDD+ decision, see our cover story).

In 2010, WWF set out to implement a jurisdictional/subnational REDD+ programme of work in Indonesia's 3.2-million-hectare Kutai Barat district, on the island of Borneo. Building on the successes of this REDD+ initiative, Kutai Barat has now been selected for support from the Fund for REDD+ in Indonesia (FREDDI). In selecting the Kutai Barat REDD+ site for funding, Indonesia's REDD+ team linked the work to the national priority of indigenous community forest management.

In a major step forward for global tropical forest conservation, tropical forest nations now have clear guidance from the Carbon Fund on steps to take to access nearly US$400m of available funds to pilot reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) initiatives.

The news comes on the heels of a global REDD+ mechanism being agreed upon at the recently convened UN global climate summit in Warsaw, and the announcement by the governments of the US, UK, Norway and Germany of US$280m in additional REDD+ funding.

New US$280 million Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes announced by top REDD+ donor nations

Top REDD+ donor nations of Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States renewed their commitment to REDD+ at the UN global climate change meeting in Warsaw in November, announcing a new initiative, the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes.

The initiative launched with an initial commitment of US$280 million, with additional partners expected to join. The announcement reinforced REDD+ as one of the few success stories at this year's global climate change meeting, and while applauded by WWF, the global conservation organization is calling on Parties to do more and fulfil their financial commitments made since Bali in 2007.

Peru to receive US$50 million to conserve forests and improve livelihoods of those that depend on them

Peru will benefit from US$50 million in funding from the Forest Investment Program (FIP) to support activities that will fight deforestation and forest degradation in the country and improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.

The activities will take place at the national level as well as in the regions of San Martin, Loreto, Ucayali and the Amazonian headwater region of Madre de Dios, where WWF currently works to engage local communities and others in activities that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

REDD+ Inspiring Practice: Strengthening Land Tenure through Participatory Land-use Mapping in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This REDD+ Inspiring Practice focuses on participatory land-use mapping and land-use planning being carried out with communities from customary areas, known locally as terroirs, in the Lac Tumba region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The process was designed to recognize and respect the community visions and priorities for management and use of village land and natural resources.

Through this work, local communities gained knowledge of the policy, legal and contractual issues that may affect land use and local rights, and the capacity to fully participate in land-use decision-making processes.

In this webinar, Josefina Brana-Varela, Policy Director of WWF's Forest and Climate Programme; Hermine Kleymann, Programme Officer for REDD Policy at WWF-Germany; and and John O. Niles, Director for Climate and Forests with WWF-US discuss REDD+ REDD+ outcomes at UNFCCC-COP19 and outline potential next steps.

In this learning session, Berta Pesti, a UNDP technical advisor on national REDD+ funds for the UN-REDD Programme gives an overview of the operational modalities of REDD+ financial arrangements at the national level. She also discusses some top line lessons learned from REDD+ finance work so far. Jacinto Coello of the UNEP Finance Initiative also shares perspectives on private sector results based payments.

In this informal question and answer session, Dr. Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, WWF's Senior Forest Carbon Scientist and lead on MRV activities for the global Forest and Climate Programme is joined by MRV practitioners from around the globe to discuss a variety of MRV related topics including data standardization, community-generated information, community MRV and LiDar.

INTERVIEW: Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, member of Indonesia's Special REDD+ Team, former chair of the Strategy Working Group with the Presidential Task Force on REDD+, and Adviser for Climate Change Policy at the World Bank Indonesia Office answers questions about his role and the opportunities that REDD+ brings to conservation and development in Indonesia.

The scarlet macaw is brightly coloured and highly intelligent resident of Amazon rainforests. The birds mate for life and can live up to 70 years. Through its work to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), WWF's Forest and Climate Programme together with WWF colleagues across South America, is helping to conserve and manage the threatened forest habitats of these beautiful birds.

This updated guide provides REDD+ practitioners with the information they need to develop national and subnational REDD+ strategies. The new version features additional chapters on stakeholder engagement and REDD+ registries, new REDD+ country profiles, an expanded glossary and an updated resource section.

This WWF-Norway report reflects on lessons learned from five years of Norwegian REDD+ and explores how these can be applied to Energy+, an initiative that aims to increase access to renewable energy and at the same time reduce or avoid carbon emissions.

Environmental service incentives in the state of Acre, Brazil: Lessons for policies, programmes and strategies for jurisdiction-wide REDD+

The Brazilian state of Acre in the Amazon -- home to the Sky Rainforest Rescue project -- is considered a leader in the field of REDD+ at the state-level. This WWF report analyzes the design and construction of its REDD+ programme, ISA Carbon, and identifies strengths and challenges.

This is a WWF report on the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) workshop held in Lima, Peru in May 2013, which brought together participants from Peru, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana and Colombia. The report highlights shared experiences and lessons from WWF's work on social safeguards and beneﬁts as part of WWF's REDD+ related activities and lays the foundation for the next phase of work beginning in July 2014.

Building REDD+ for People and Nature: lessons learned in Indonesia, Peru and the DRC

This short video complements WWF's publication Building REDD+ for People and nature: from lessons learned in Indonesia, Peru and the DRC to a new vision for REDD+, and was released at the 2013 Oslo REDD Exchange in October 2013.

Women are often excluded from the decision making process in their communities because of social barriers, logistical barriers, the rules governing community forestry, and male bias in the attitudes of those promoting community forestry initiatives. This short video produced by CIFOR highlights their research on the differences between genders and the effects it has on these communities and demonstrates the importance of women's roles in their community and questions how they might be better represented in the future.

Indonesia REDD+ agency now fully functionalIndonesia President Yudhoyono has appointed Heru Prasetyo as the REDD+ Agency Head in a Presidential Decree dated December 12, 2013, to enable the Agency to become fully functional.

Funding for REDD+ grows with additional US$170m in fundsAt the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership meeting in Paris this week, REDD+ received a boost with new commitments of more than US$40m from the UK and US$100m from Norway to the FCPF for REDD+ related activities.

A U.N. programme aimed at protecting Panama's forests has been reopened after it was suspended earlier this year due to disagreement between indigenous forest communities and the Central American nation's government over how the scheme was being managed.

Sierra Leone has launched a REDD+ readiness and capacity building project with five million euros from the by the European Union (EU) through the Climate Change Alliance. The initiative will be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS).

Mapping UNFCCC REDD+: a visual guide to the systems and structures supporting REDD+ within the UNFCCC

Launched at COP19 in Warsaw, Poland, and co-produced by WWF, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, this series of eight maps make it easier for negotiators, observers or anybody working in REDD+ to navigate the complex systems and structures related to REDD+ within the UNFCCC. This tool has become highly popular, and has been downloaded more than 1,500 times for use by practitioners. Updated maps in new interactive formats are expected to be developed in 2014

This policy brief developed by WWF's global Forest and Climate Programme reports back on specific action and decisions taken at COP19 as related to REDD+. It also provides an analysis of this and recommends necessary next steps for REDD+.

WWF and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) hosted a technical workshop Building REDD+ Reference Levels, at WWF's US headquarters in Washington, D.C., in January 2013. The objective of the workshop was to provide an informal opportunity for countries to share their experiences in the development of national and sub-national forest reference levels and to learn from their collective knowledge.

This report presents the key findings of the workshop and highlights some possible pathways forward in light of these findings.

"It is important and timely for the REDD+ Agency to immediately move forward at full speed for the sake of Indonesia and the entire earth."

-- Heru Prasetyo, newly appointed REDD+ Agency Head

On UNFCCC-COP19:

"Present global ambition to fight climate change is thoroughly insufficient and much remains to be done. However, the UN Climate Change Conference in Warsaw (COP 19) was a meeting that broke new ground...The Green Climate Fund will be ready for capitalization in the second half of 2014. And the rule book for preserving the world's forests [REDD+] was agreed..."

-- Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary

On REDD+'s approval at UNFCCC-COP19:

"This is a major milestone in the history of conservation. With REDD+ a reality, a global system now exists for tropical forest nations to be financially rewarded for sustainably managing their forests in ways that fight climate change, conserve biodiversity and safeguard the livelihoods of the indigenous peoples and local communities that depend on them."

"This victory for REDD+ was hard fought over eight years. Inside the global climate meetings delegates have worked hard to put their differences aside to design and agree on key financial and technical aspects of REDD+, while outside others, including WWF, have been working on the ground in key tropical forest countries to build the capacity to deliver REDD+. But the work has only just begun. Now developed nations need to step up to fund REDD+. With global commitment and agreement on REDD+ in place, the funds must follow. WWF is calling for swift action from global leaders to ensure REDD+ is funded to the level needed to deliver as expected."

"In the past few years we have seen a willingness of donors to fund innovative REDD+ programmes. But currently there are not enough highly-qualified experts to meet the complex and evolving technical demands of REDD+. The new certification course aims to help REDD+ succeed through international academic partnerships around a shared carbon accounting curriculum."

"Learning how to accurately measure, report and verify emissions is very valuable as it is something that Peru can use for bilateral negotiations or for a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. All of the instructors were just incredible. I didn't expect to have the technical REDD+ Facilitator for the UNFCCC [Peter Graham] as an instructor. They gave us the knowledge we need to submit high-quality reference levels, which is what donors and multilateral banks need before funding REDD+ work."